The Beginning of a Pirate
by PurellWarrior
Summary: This is my take on how Frederic became a pirate is his life during that time. This story explains how the pirates got to learn such big words, why they tend to sing at random moments, and it also explains the death of Frederic's mother and father.


A large pirate ship approached Penzance Bay. A black bearded, very tanned pirate was at the front of the ship watching them come to the dock. A man in a bright red suit was steering the ship, he has a brown bushy moustache that curved upward. The other pirates on the ship were hard at work preparing for docking.

"Bring down the sails! Put in the cannons! Slow down the ship, Samuel throw the anchor!" Yelled the man who was standing in the front of the ship. He was the captain of the ship, nobody was sure of his named so most people called him 'sir' or 'captain', he called himself The Pirate King. "Rocco, don't fire those cannons! If I see one ball come flying out!" The ship was getting closer to the dock the pirates began working faster. "Last I checked you men weren't turtles! Put down the anchor!

_BANG! _"Did I just hear a cannon fire?" the Pirate King yelled outraged.

Samuel came rushing over trying to calm him down. "No Captain, we lost the anchor, it kind of slipped from my grip. I think someone had broken the chain and forgot to tell you."

"Forgot? I think they were just afraid to die!" Samuel jumped at the Pirate King's words he normally wasn't this mean. Samuel thought it could just be because he wanted to set a good example for Queen Victoria; she had assigned them to venture off into the sea and gather as much gold for England.

"Sir, I would be afraid to die…" Samuel spoke nervously; the Pirate King stared at him angrily and pointed to the steering wheel on the other side of the ship. Samuel ran and tried stopping the ship or turning it even though he knew it was no use.

The ship gained speed as they advanced toward the dock. The sails had not yet been taken down and even if the tried bringing them down they would still hit the bay.

"Does any one of you _know_ what it is to be a pirate?" The Pirate King looked around at the freighted faces that stared at him. "Never mind, just hold on to something we aren't turning around. Nor are we hitting that bay nicely." The ship ran up sand on the bay still with a bit of speed. It then began turning up from a rising rock but the wood broke and it fell crashing and stopping the ship completely.

"If we ever have to do that again…" The Pirate King mumbled. He looked in back of the ship to see the dock broken and crushed from the ship's weight.

After a while the pirates had all gotten off the ship and were walking up a stone path that led to the city. The Pirate King and Samuel looked back at the giant ship, which was crashed on the shore.

"I sure hope we have enough money to fix that one up." Said The Pirate King sarcastically. Samuel knew why The Pirate King had said it how he did, their crew of pirates wasn't very fierce and let all parties weaker then them pass.

"Well according to my latest check, we have not even enough money to fix a broken doorknob." Samuel put his head down unhappily; the Pirate King gave him a pat on the back. They were silent for the rest of the way up until they met up with General Loche.

"Hello Captain, Samuel. Pleasure to see your sullied faces again; I sure hope the docking of your ship was unproblematic." The Pirate King bowed his head and signaled for all his crew to do the same. "If there was any damage done to your ship Queen Victoria says that she will pay for it as long as you are cooperative of getting a new participant in your band."

Samuel and the Pirate King exchanged curious looks. The pirates began talking loudly until a loud whistle sounded. "Looks like your new member is here." A tall man in a military suit stepped toward the Pirates with an eight-year-old boy who looked so nervous that he could melt on the spot.

"This is Frederic, his nursery maid Ruth will be here shortly. Ruth tells us that his father wants him to become a pirate." The Pirate King and Samuel looked the boy up and down before turning their backs and whispering to each other.

"Then why doesn't his father come with him instead of a woman?" asked the Pirate King a bit agitated.

The tall man glared at him angrily, "His father is to busy, you will take him!" the Pirate King reached for his sword, he quietly grasped the air and realized his sword was still on the ship.

"But Queen Victoria assigned orphans, all orphans! Not children with parents!" The tall man pulled a small gun from his belt and pointed it at the Pirate King's head.

"Okay well let me talk to my accountant," He turned to Samuel nervously. "He sure doesn't look like he wants to be a pirate." Said the Pirate King,

"Yes well, it wasn't his choice. We should keep him after all, you'll die if we don't." The Pirate King pondered on Samuel's words than turned back around to face the tall man and General Loche.

"He may come with us along with Ruth. We plan to leave in one week, in that time I wish to have my ship rebuilt and painted. Also, we will be staying in the hotel _free of charge._ Young Frederic and his nursery maid may stay as well but in a different room." The General looked at the Pirate King with a menacing stare but the Pirate King showed no emotion to it.

The General looked at the tall man and he nodded in approval. "Okay then. The construction crew is on its way. Mr. Orkrin will lead you to the Hotel. Ruth should be there at the moment." General Loche walked down to the pirates wrecked ship as the pirates, Frederic, and Mr. Orkrin walked to the hotel about a quarter mile away.

A loud bell sounded early Friday morning. The pirates woke up from their beds and quickly got changed and headed outside to meet the crew.

It had been a week since the crash and it gave everybody a chance to relax. The Pirates King was smiling more than he usually did with Samuel by his side, "Alright men, lets get back to our rough and ruthless life and get some gold!"

Frederic looked at Ruth with concern; Ruth was an older woman, about Samuel's age. She had gray hair wrapped in buns and an easy, welcoming face. They followed the cheering and celebrating pirates down to the bay where they saw a gigantic ship. It was sparkling clean and it looked like nobody had ever used it before.

"Well isn't she a beauty." The Pirate King said, everybody stared in awe at the ship. "Well men, what are we waiting for? Lets go!" everybody cheered at the Pirate King's happy mood and ran to the ship.

Once everybody was on and at their positions the Pirate King signaled to Samuel that they were ready to leave. The ship turned swiftly without a single bump other than the rocking of the waves. Frederic and Ruth sat on a bench next to the Pirate King waiting for his orders. The sails soon went up on the ship and they began leaving Penzance Bay. Rocco, the weapons keeper, went into the basement of the ship and pushed out the cannons.

Lastly the Pirate King pulled a long rope that raised a black flag with skull and crossbones. "Isn't this great? The sun in your hair the wind in you face…wait…vice versa."

Ruth patted Frederic's back and looked around until her eyes met the Pirate Kings, "Where shall we go during the sail?"

The Pirate King looked at her up and down before answering. "You can stay downstairs, Samuel will show you around. You can take the room next to mine." Samuel began walking downstairs before Ruth stopped and looked at the Pirate King again.

"Just curious but where are we sailing to?"

The Pirate King smiled at Ruth's words, "Nowhere. We just sail until we find a ship, and when we do, we attack." Ruth gulped nervously at the words and followed Samuel down the stairs with Frederic right behind.

When they were in the cabin Samuel turned towards Frederic and kneeled so they were eye to eye. "Now, umm…"

"Frederic." He had noticed Samuel's pause.

"Yes, Frederic. Are you sure you wish to live a life as a pirate? I was in the same situation as you and I'd hate to see you get angry." Frederic thought for a bit then stared Samuel hard in the eye.

"It was my duty to come on this ship. I shall never disobey my duty!" Ruth smiled at his strong words.

"Those are some strong words for a six year old." He turned away and walked up the stairs back to the deck.

"I'm eight." Said Frederic with a bit of anger in his tone. Ruth patted him on the back and looked around for the Pirate King's room. She walked around with Frederic shadowing her, she saw signs on doors that read things like: Crew Beds, Garbage Disposal, and Food Chamber. Next to the Food Chamber door was a door that read, "Captain's Quarters." She looked next to the room and there was the door that read, "Sea View Room." She opened the door to reveal a medium sized room with about enough room for 4 other beds to go along with the two already in there. "I call the blue bed!" Frederic exclaimed as he threw his belongings onto it. It made a large creaking sound as the backpack landed on the cushioned bed.

"Alright Frederic, there isn't much we can do around here just yet so don't cause trouble. I will go to the kitchen…or food chamber as they call it and go make some tea for both of us along with some scrambled eggs if they have any." Frederic licked his lips at Ruth words. "Now while I'm gone please don't break anything. Look out the window if you find nothing to do." With that, Ruth left the room and waked to the kitchen.

"What do you plan having Frederic do?" Samuel asked the Pirate King curiously.

The Pirate King looked away from the telescope to face Samuel, "Well, he wants to become a pirate, or at least his father wants him to. So we will teach him the ways of a pirate!" Samuel wasn't still wasn't too happy about the fact a non-orphan was on the ship. He had been with the pirates since they began and never liked anybody who had close family, like moms or dads.

Samuel walked to the front of the ship to meet up with a pirate named Slasher, or at least that's what he called himself. "I dislike the new boy." Exclaimed Slasher without looking at Samuel.

"Well we will have to get used to him. I hate to say it but maybe he will be a helpful member to our band." Slasher leaned on the guardrail and looked at Samuel. He then released a dark, shadowed smile.

"Let's exterminate this boy." He said quickly and quietly.

Samuel stared at him in disgust, "What? You would kill a boy just because you don't like him? I mean I dislike him not being an orphan but I have to get over that fact since after all, its not like he would killed his own parents just to get our liking."

Slasher stood up strait; "Well I plan to get rid of him, before our Captain trains him to well." Samuel shook his head side to side while walking away from Slasher.

"You sicken me Slasher!" he moaned uneasily.

Slasher wielded his sword and pointed it at Samuel's throat. "Alrighty then, I'll make a deal with you, Samuel. You help me exterminate Frederic and your life will be spared. Is that clear?" Samuel's eyes raged with fury, he could feel the blood heat up inside of him. He disliked the new pirate but would never kill him; all it would accomplish was a walk off the plank. However he had no choice but to follow Slasher's threat. Slasher was a powerful pirate, almost as powerful as the Pirate King, Slasher could easily kill him quick enough to stab him and dump him into the sea saying that Samuel fell overboard.

"I don't think what you plan to do is the right thing but I have no choice but to follow your orders. What shall I do?" Slasher's face filled with evil. Slasher signaled for Samuel to bend down in front of him, once on his knees Slasher tapped his sword on both of Samuel's shoulders and then allowed him to stand.

"Our plan shall happen soon, not next week soon but soon. When we strike we will be ready with reinforcements." Samuel nodded guiltily but agreed all the same.

The next morning Frederic and Ruth woke up to loud pounding on the door then the Pirate King's voice yelling.

"What time is it?" Frederic asked dazed, Ruth looked outside to see it was still dark.

"I'd bet about five A.M." Frederic fell backward into his bed exhausted. The pounding drummed once more but after that it stopped. Ruth left the room and went to the bathroom to change into her proper clothes. Frederic grabbed his clothes from the closet and was about to close the door when Slasher walked through, holding clothing.

"Hey kid, I'm Slasher. I've been assigned to you today, the Pirate King is a bit busy with stuff so I have to train you today." Frederic nodded as he eyed the clothing. He could see a black vest under a white tee shirt and black pants in one arm and in another a pair of brown boots. "These are the clothes you'll be wearing from now on, you have two pairs of these exact clothes. You will wash one pair ever night before bed and let them dry overnight. While you wait for them to dry you will put on the other pair, which look exactly alike. However you only have one pair of boots so don't lose them.

Frederic nodded but then asked, "What shall I do with the pairs of clothes that I brought?" Slasher looked at his formal clothing and dropped what he was holding so he could hold Frederic's original clothing.

"We can do one of two things with these. You can either keep them in the closet for all of eternity, or at least until you descend from this ship. Or you may throw them overboard. Your choice." Frederic took back the clothes and hung them up in the closet neatly.

Slasher grabbed Frederic by the shoulder and walked him up to the main deck. They walked to the most open part of the ship, which was the middle. Slasher handed Frederic a sword fit for his height and walked to the other side of the middle area. "Alright," he began. "Now in order to fight someone you must release stress, become fearless, and always stare your opponent in the eye to give him no clue where you plan to attack." Frederic got into position and stared at Slasher. "Alright good. Now first I'll show you the main move of slashing and how to deflect it. This move is quite easy to learn but it speed varies on the user of the sword." Slasher turned his head to see the Pirate King walking towards him, "Just practice slashing its just a swipe diagonally left to right."

The Pirate King got closed to Slasher and whispered in his ear, "Slasher I have a small problem. You see, Samuel has insisted me to help him with his sword moves for some odd reason. He says he hasn't practiced in a while. Anyway, I will need you to train Frederic for the next few months while I help our clueless accountant. Is that alright with you?" Slasher smiled and shook the Pirate King's hand.

"That would be wonderful." The Pirate King made an unsure smile and returned to the back of the ship.

"What was that about?" asked Frederic.

Slasher stared at him without speaking for a second and then shook his head back and forth remembering where they were. "Oh umm, the Pirate King just informed me that I will be your trainer for a while. He is a bit busy." Frederic shrugged and stood strait ready to listen for Slasher's next instructions. "Now to block a slash is as easy to do you just have to make sure you know it's coming or it could be a deathly blow. Okay all you must do to block a slash is pull your sword back and slam your opponent's sword backward. Very easy, you attack and I'll show you."

They practiced until noon, the two of the were drenched with sweat and were gulping down their food rapidly. After every five or so bites they would sip their water and then go back to eating.

After lunch Frederic had been assigned to clean all the cabins with Ruth. Frederic wasn't very fond of the job but he did it anyway. It lasted him until nine o' clock, lucky for him that after that the Pirate King let Frederic do as he wanted until lights out. Frederic got changed into the clothes that looked like the clothes he was wearing and washed them. They weren't the most comfortable clothes he had ever put on to sleep with but he dazed off immediately after his head met his pillow.

A month had passed and Frederic was finally starting to turn out to be a good pirate. He no longer worried about his hygiene as much as he used to and no longer brushed or cut his hair. He had been training with Slasher every morning to noon and cleaned the cabins or washed the deck every evening. He would usually fall asleep before nine-thirty.

Ruth over that first week learned the basic ways of using a gun with the help of Rocco. She started acting as a nursery maid towards all the pirates. She would help Phillip in the kitchen to make meals and would tend to the pirates injuries. Some of the pirates still weren't sure of her but most almost thought of her as a foster mother.

Slasher was still threatening Samuel to death. He learned easy moves from the Pirate King but had to pretend to not know them so the Pirate King would stay away from Frederic. He attended to all his normal duties afterward and every night after lights out him and Slasher would meet in the empty room across the hall from the kitchen and discuss their plan to kill Frederic.

"Alright Frederic, today we will have our first test." Frederic pouted at the words and dropped his sword in front of him. "What are you doing?" Slasher asked surprised of Frederic's movements.

"You said we were having a test, I'm ready to take it." Slasher chuckled as he realized Frederic's confusion.

"Not a test on paper and pencil a sword test, a duel." Frederic smiled with a hint of embarrassment showing on his cheeks and picked up his sword. He took his place on the opposite side of Slasher and got into his ready stance. "We will play this battle medium force, meaning we will try to attack each other but not try to kill each other. You may use all the moves I have taught you, I will use only the moves I have taught you. We will play until one of us has reached twenty hits. Ready?" Frederic nodded; he released his stress and looked Slasher in the eye. His almost ice blue eyes pierced him like his own sword turning around and stabbing him. He missed Slasher's start signal and all he could see was those menacing eyes.

"Ahhh!" Frederic yelled painfully. Slasher had slashed his left arm giving him a somewhat deep gash.

"Woah, sorry! I thought you were going to block me thats why I started with a swipe." Frederic held back his tears and looked at Slasher, eyes watering.

"I'm fine." He gasped, "It wasn't my sword arm so I can still fight."

Slasher nodded understandingly, "shall we start over?"

"Yes please." Frederic said.

Frederic centered the sword in front of him and waited for Slasher's signal. Slasher tapped his foot silently and raced towards Frederic. Frederic slid to the right avoiding Slasher's blow, however, Slasher came back with his sword in a left to right horizontal motion but Frederic easily blocked the come back. Frederic dodged another swipe by spinning around and slamming his sword against Slasher's putting as much pressure as he could on it. Slasher pushed on Frederic's sword as hard as he could but Frederic had placed it on just the right spot so Slasher couldn't push him back. Frederic used this as an opportunity to quickly slide his sword horizontally across Slasher's and tap his arm giving him an easy point.

The two played on past lunch and finally finished at around two o' clock. "You two look beat. Would you like some food and water?" they nodded yes and Ruth ran downstairs into the kitchen.

"That was some good stuff you did back there." Frederic thanked Slasher's compliment and then spoke,

"You only lost by two points it was mostly because of you mistake of trying to attack from my side when you would leave your own side open." Slasher looked surprised at Frederic's knowledge. They ate and talked until dinner, which was not long after. Finally Frederic got to sleep and didn't wake up until he felt a tug at his shoulder.

He opened his eyes and looked around to see what had woken him up. He saw no light coming into the room and figured it was morning, but usually he woke up automatically, why didn't he this time?

He looked to his left and saw Samuel crouched down next to him. Samuel put his finger up to his lips indicating not to talk. He then motioned for Frederic to follow him out of the room. They walked through the hall and up the stairs to the deck, the air was cold a soft breeze blew past them.

"Where is everybody?" asked Frederic yawing silently.

Samuel looked around and spoke, "Its not yet five o' clock it around one A.M." Frederic looked at Samuel waiting for more words to come out of his mouth. "I woke you up because something terrible is going to happen to you and you must know."

Frederic's sleepiness drained away from him as he stared at Samuel in shock. "What do you mean?"

Samuel paced in a circle for a few seconds before answering. "Well you see, Slasher has been treating you kindly for the past month or so and it's not really him." Frederic looked puzzled, "You see, I know you'll find it hard to believe but you must to spare you life! Slasher has been planning to exterminate you since you walked onto this ship. He threatened to kill me if I didn't help him and now I must help you to stay alive, he doesn't know you and I are up so you must keep this a secret."

Frederic looked at Samuel trying to believe what he was saying. "Slasher? Why would he want to kill me, he has taught me so much. Even if he did decide to kill me he knows we'd be an even fight!" Samuel shuddered at Frederic's words.

"Well Frederic, that's where you have it wrong. You're right he taught you a lot but it wasn't the correct things. He wanted to teach you a form of sword fighting called, Relief. It was one of the strongest types of dueling a long time ago and some how he learned it. It was replaced with our current style of fighting which has different levels, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and then for Captains they learnt an extra type called Head Defensive. The style he teaches you was made before anybody in this crew was born and can easily be defeated with Basic, there were so many flaws that they had to replace it." Frederic stared blankly at Samuel, for a second Samuel thought he was going to pass out.

Frederic shook his head trying to gets those thoughts out of his mind, he then looked at Samuel with fury in his eyes. "You mean to say Slasher, the pirate who has taught me so much wants to kill me?" Samuel nodded, "You liar!" Frederic ran away from Samuel, tears in his eyes and ran into his bed.

Samuel looked at the sky in despair and said only four words, "There goes my life."


End file.
